Morning journal and courier., 1887-05-19
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. LONG AND SHORT HAUL. The Clause Will Not Be Sus-
 pended. A ROWLING MOB AT TORONTO Chases 0'Brien Through the
 Streets. A JURY TO TRY JAKE SHARP. Fatal Lightning From A
 Clear Sky.
"A JURY TO TRY JAKE SHARP.
INTERSTATE COMMERCE..

II relleL cOulu D6 gwen you WlLnOuG stretch of authority and without at the sam, time causing mischief to other interests, the commission would take great pleasure il granting it. But what evidently appears tc you very easy and simple does not seem tt its members to be so; and however anxious they are that your interest should not con tinue to suffer, they are constrained to hol6 the application under advisement still longer The fourth section of the act, as we all very we'll understand, was intended to establish the general law that more should not be charged for transportation for the shorter than for the longer haul over the same line in the same direction under circum stances substantially similar. Congress in passing the act decided that the rule should there after preclude this greater charge; and in sc doing it must be understood to have deter mined that in it's judgment any in cidental injuries that might flow from the enforce ment of the general rule would be more than balanced by resulting benefits" MT. Cooley points out that the act permits suspension of the general rule only in exeep- tional csses, that the jurisdiction of the commission in making suspensions was in. tended to be closely restricted and that sacri fee made necessary in establishing general law should be submitted to by some parties and some interests for the general good until in due time remedy is provided. 'FThe first questions to confront the commission upon it's organization were raised upon applica- tions for relief filed by railroad companies i, e., ,,,R1, oc &I,a o& in which companies were charging more for the shorter than for the longer haul over the same line in the same direction were to be met with in all parts. The interests which were involved in the continuance of the cus- tom were very great and the anticipation of serious injury from any sudden change was in some quarters quite general. The commission therefore had earnest appeals made to it in support of the corporate applications for relief from boards of trade and other public or semi public bodies and from representatives of large business interests which feared or pro- fessed to fear destruction. In many cases the appeals seemed to be made in the belief that the probability of injury was of itself a sufficient warrant for the commission to in- terfere and grant 8 relieving order. It is scarcely necessary to say to you that any such belief is without legal support The probability or even the certainty that injury to corporations or to individuals will result is not by itself under the act any ground for & suspension anywhere of it's ordinary operations. It would not in fact be made a ground for rslief without giving the commis- sion such general dispensing power as would not be consistent with sound princi- pies of government Congress has not intima, ted parposs to give such power. If the law in it's general operation were to prove gener- ally and equally mischievous in all directions, the commission instead of having the greater power for that reason would have no power of suspension whatever, for the simple and plain reason that there would then be no ex- ceptional cases for it to act upon, and there fore the cases referred by the act to it's judg ment. But uniform effects were of course as far from being possible as they were from being contemplated. There must and will be exceptional cases. In the absence of any specification of these in the act itself the commission was obliged to determine as best it might what cases were probably in the mind of Congress when the exceptional relief was provided for. It also found itself confronted with the question whether the railroads might determine for themselves, but at their peril, whether in any particular case the circumstances and conditions were so far different as to justify the greater charge for the shorter haul, or whether on the other hand it was only upon and in view of such different circumstances and condi- tions that the commission was empowered to act. The suspension authorized by the act was to be ordered after investigation. This was plainly determined. If the order was to have any fnality it would be proper that the investigation should offord opportunity for hearing to parties who opposed as well as to those who favored the application. This would require time in every case, and had the commission made no order except upon full and final bearing the majority of appli- cations now on it's files would up to this time have necessarily remained not acted upon. in order, yours would have been upon those not yet reached. This fact is mentioned as showing that the giving ot temporary relief in some other cases has not placed yours in any worse posi- ton than it would necessarily have occupied if the temporary orders had not been made. The commission, however, deemed it wise to grant some temporary orders on an investi- gation not as complete as it expected finally to make. This was done in the belief that no considerable mischief could follow from allowing an existing condition to remain fo1 brief period whether it was then suffered to stand or not and that harmful results from a sudden change in the law might there by to some extent be averted. This course also gave the commission such an oppor- tunity for careful study of the system which Congress undertook to reform as would otherwise have been wanting. Ii the new law had been left to operate universally the old state of things would have been swept away at once, and the commis. sion seeing only what had been substituted for it would have been deprived of the best and most satisfactory means of making just comparison.
 You speak strongly and earnestly of tke reasons for granting your application. But in order to warrant it's being granted, it is not enough that the application is considered by itself appears to have merit. The com mission must consider in each case what eff feet the giving of relief to one applicant will have upon another interest, and your know, ledge of railroad matters must enoble you to perceive that in some sections of the country the granting of one application may so affect the interests of other roads as te crea.e @ necessity for the like re- lief to several more, the satisfaction of one claim begetting others which are equally meritorious, until, if all are satisfied
 the exception becomes the rule. But when such result is probable the reasons for de clining to make any temporary order are very conclusive. The commission cannot consent deliberately to enter upon g highway
 where to all appearance there will pc no hait
 ing place within the limits of it's lawful Juris
 diction. If general suspension of the long and short haul clause is not to be made by {
 single compresensive order neither should the same result be reached or approached by
 the granting of successive orders in individ
 ual cases. In whatever the commission may do it must keep in view the preservation o the general rule.
 Fatal Lightning From a Clear Sky. CAIRO, O., May 1S.-As John Reacheli
 Lowe Hopping and Bob Boyd, all colored
 were ploughing on Smithland Island, in tn | Ohio, lightning, which came from smal ! heecy cloud in the clear sky struck them ant their mules senseless. When Hopping an Boyd recovered they found Reachell, wh l uaa hatruaar, tharn and mt mora than tMent